High up above Scandinavia about 75 degrees north latitude is an
obscure archipelago that few people in the world know about, and even
fewer have been to.

It’s called Svalbard, population ~3,000. And while the islands are
technically part of Norway, they come with some incredibly unique
benefits that I’ll explain in a moment.

For centuries, Svalbard was completely lawless, devoid of any
government authority. It attracted whalers, hunters, merchants, and
fishermen from all over the world– the UK, Russia, France, Netherlands,
North America, and Scandinavia.

Amazingly enough, they were all able to co-exist for hundreds of
years without a sovereign authority or central government telling them
what to do or how they could live.

Of course, it all got screwed up eventually. In time as word got out
about Svalbard, a number of countries tried to claim the islands. Peace
turned to conflict very quickly.

Various nations began sending their navies to fight other navies. It
was absurd. When they discovered substantial coal deposits, even more
conflict ensued.

Svalbard’s fate was ultimately decided because of World War I. The
utter devastation that was wracked across Europe led many war-weary
politicians to consider a compromise.

Obviously the option of simply pulling out of Svalbard and letting
the islands go back to being governmentless was off the table. So in
1920, a group of 14 nations got together and signed the Spitsbergen
Treaty, effectively awarding Svalbard to Norway.